Tehran, Iran, June 1
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Iran has said that it is willing to sell Turkey more gas than it currently does.
Alireza Kameli, director of the National Iranian Gas Export Company, said that talks have been held with Turkish companies on building power plants and using the available capacity of the Iran-Turkey gas pipeline.
Kameli announced the news while commenting on his last week trip to Turkey where talks were held with Turkish companies, SHANA news agency reported June 1.
Talks were held there on building power plants in the Turkish territory and feeding them with gas imported from Iran, he said.
Kamali also stated that right now the Iran-Turkey gas pipeline has a free capacity of 1.2 billion cubic meters per year, which could increase to two billion if Turkey installed compressors along the line.
He noted that Turkish companies could make agreements with the Turkish Botas company for using the free capacity of the pipeline.
Tehran recently won arbitration on gas export to Turkey. One and a half years ago, Ankara sued Iran to The Hague for overcharging.
A 25-year take-or-pay contract between Iran and Turkey says Iran will provide Turkey with 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Botas had demanded Iran to lower the gas price by 32.5 percent, claiming Iran had overcharged Turkey and failed to provide ample gas in the cold season.
But as Botas has failed to keep receiving the agreed amount of gas from Iran, it has to pay Iran $600 million. Instead of 10 billion cubic meters, Turkey had imported 6.8 billion cubic meters of gas last year.
Edited by CN
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